Idaho ranchers faced with tough decisions in the aftermath of summer wildfires

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) – Robert Oxarango, a former Boise hotshot crew member in the late ’80s and ’90s, is no stranger to wildfires, but facing them as a cattle rancher is a different challenge.

This year, the Paddock Fire devastated the grass on his Emmett ranch, displacing 350 pairs of calves and their mothers he owns.

The Paddock Fire, sparked by lightning on Aug. 18, burned nearly 190,000 acres north of Emmett over 12 days. At its peak, 348 personnel tackled the blaze with aircraft, dozers, and water tenders, according to the Bureau of Land Management Idaho Fire Program.

“The flames were taller than the trees, probably 30 feet tall,” Oxarango told the Idaho Capital Sun. “It was insanely hot. The fire jumped the road probably in three or four different places, spitting hot embers wherever it went.”

The severity of the fire forced Oxarango and his workers to take action. To find space for the displaced animals, they had to wean the 350 five-month-old calves off their mothers two months earlier than usual. Now, with the grass destroyed, the cows are being fed hay — an economically unsustainable solution, Oxarango said.

Lines of dirt cut across Oxarango’s ranch, marking where dozers and discs—agricultural tools used for plowing and breaking up the soil—created dirt lines to prevent the spread of the wildfire. With limited grazing land, Oxarango faces a difficult decision: find new land for his cattle or sell them.

“This year in this part of the world, it’s going to be super hard,” he said. “Because of the Oregon fires and all the Idaho fires, and there’s so many people looking for that same thing.”

Wildfires present strain on grazing land

Oxarango runs ranching operations on about 31,000 acres of deeded, state and BLM land.

Since some of his grazing operations are on BLM land, the agency requires time to recover after wildfires. The duration for recovery depends on factors like burn severity, vegetation type, weather and management goals, BLM spokesperson Caleb Ashby told the Sun.

In Idaho, about 11 million acres of public land are available for livestock grazing. This year, approximately 191,280 acres of BLM land have burned, most of which is expected to be within grazing allotments, according to Chris Robbins, rangeland management specialist at the BLM Idaho State Office.

Newly burned areas are especially vulnerable to water run-off and wind erosion because of a loss of biological soil crust, ground cover and plant litter which all hold the soil and protect it against the wind, Robbins said.

“While roots have little to do with runoff and wind erosion, as that is mostly dependent on above-ground biomass, re-establishing plants and new seedings requires time and ideal growing conditions for the root structures to grow enough to be resilient to grazing,” he told the Sun. “Closing these areas supports the most ideal conditions possible for plants to establish and the areas to recover.”

Wildfires to have impact on economy, Idaho Cattle Association says

In a state where cattle outnumber people, cattle ranches and grazing lands have been significantly impacted by wildfires this year.

In a statement to the Sun, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who has a ranching background, said he understands deeply that wildfire is a part of the job and life in the West.

“Ranchers are resilient people and make the most tough situations, but the losses from wildfire, particularly this year, can be devastating,” Little said. “We know many of the ranchers affected by this year’s fires, including our own family. We are blessed to live in a state that prioritizes aggressive initial attack to keep fires small whenever possible, and we’ve led the nation in equipping ranchers and loggers with the tools and resources they need to respond quickly when fire strikes. We’ve strengthened the partnership between fire managers and the people working the land. Idaho has also stepped up to fund our fire account and increase firefighter pay and resources to ensure we’re ready, and we have good systems in place to support communities after a fire event. To Idaho’s ranching families, as fellow Idahoans we are here for you and support you!”

In August, the Idaho Cattle Association announced it is offering a Wildfire Relief Fund for those cattle producers and organizations who provided assistance to fight wildfires on grazing land.

“Cattle and calves are one of the top economic drivers to the Idaho state economy, bringing in over $2 billion annually,” Idaho Cattle Association Executive Vice President Cameron Mulrony told the Sun. “The effects of this year’s wildfire season will be felt by our industry for years to come, with the true impacts to the state economy being greater even still than just the immediate losses by producers, which are significant in themselves.”

According to a report from the Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission, more than 100 cattle, possibly more, were killed in the Paddock Fire.

Oxarango said he’s unsure if he’s lost any cattle on his ranch.

“I can’t say we didn’t lose any for sure, because we haven’t found them all,” he said. “But we found most of them. We’ve scoured the butte, and I have yet to see a dead one.”

But his neighbors, who are fellow ranchers, have.

“It’s as painful to me as it is to them, because the poor cow didn’t deserve that,” he said. “It’s just really hard to see a cow that you’ve put a lot of time, effort and money in. It’s just hard to see.”

Wildfires are expected in the summers, Oxarango said. Since moving to his Emmett home in 2012, lightning has struck the hot, dry landscape almost every summer. But the Paddock Fire was the largest and most impactful he’s experienced.

“In agriculture, you’ll find out that you have to be an eternal optimist, meaning that next year is going to be better every time,” Oxarango said. “But I recognize that the climate is changing. There’s no question about that. It’s way different than when I was a kid. It is hotter and drier.”

Faced with the wildfire’s aftermath, he is considering his next steps.

“You may have to put your cows on trucks and go somewhere you haven’t been before,” he said. “You may have to sell some. It’s not the first time this has happened. It’s just the first time it’s happened to me. We’ll come out the other side. People in agriculture are pretty resilient.”